Sad-iron.



No. 755,567. PATENTED MAR. 22, 190 4. A. L. EGGLES.

SAD IRON.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 6, 1903.

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No. 755,567. PATENTED MAR. 22, 1904. A. L. EGCLES.

SAD IRON.

APPLICATION FILED 0OT.5, 1903. 5 N0 MODEL.

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Patented March 22, 1904.

PATENT UEETQE.

ALFRED LIVINGSTON EOCLES, OF TRENTON, NEW JERSEY.

SAD-IRON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 755,567, dated March 22, 1904:.

Application filed October 5, 1903. Serial No. 175,872. (No model.) v

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALFRED LIVINGSTON EOoLEs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Trenton, county of Mercer, State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sad-Irons; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to internally heating sad-irons, and to that kind thereof which are heated by gas, and is intended to be applicable to all sizes of such sad-irons including those ordinarily used for domestic and general laundry work, as well as thelarger heavier tailors iron used for pressing purposes.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a sad-iron embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 represents a central transverse section thereof. Fig. 3 represents a central longitudinal sec tion and partial elevation thereof. Fig. 4; represents a separate view of the burner-tube, and Fig. 5 represents an end elevation.

Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views. Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the main body portion of the sad-iron consists of a single casting A, of iron or steel, cored out centrally and provided with side apertures, which are covered by the plates a 6.

In the form of sad-iron shown the main body portion A is provided with two ironing-surfaces 0 and cl and is so arranged that it may be reversed or turned over to use one surface while the other is being reheated. The handle B is connected with the iron by the handle-arms C and D. The handle-arms are provided with bosses at their lower ends which swivel in circular openings in the two ends of the iron, as shownin the drawings. The handle B is protected from the heat rising from the face of the iron by an asbestos shield E. The main body portion A is revoluble on the bosses of the handle-arms C D and may be fixed with either ironing-surface ready for use by the pin or latch e, which is operated by the lever F, which serves to withdraw the pin a from its seat when it is desired to turn the body A of the iron.

The iron being interiorly heated from the burner-tube G, it is necessary in order to produce a perfect combustion of the gas admitted into the burner-tube to provide apertures in the body portion A of the iron or the plates a 6, and for this purpose the apertures f g are formed as shown, respectively, in the side plates (0 6 and the end wall of the iron. (See Fig. 5.) The air which passes into'the interior of the iron must be permitted to escape therefrom in order to insure a fresh supply of oxygen for the flame and to remove the products of combustion. With a flame sufficiently intense to produce an efiicient heating of the iron the air and products of combustion which escape from these apertures are too hot to be comfortably borne by the person of the operator. It is then a desideratum to direct the current of escaping heated air away from the operator. To this end, as most persons use such irons with the right hand, I have formed the apertures f in the plates a 6. In the plate a, when it is in the position shown in the drawings, the apertures fare formed in the lower half of the plate, while in the plate 6, when in the position shown in the drawings, the apertures f are formed in the upper half of the plate. As will be readily understood, such disposition of the apertures f in the plates (6 6 causes the air to enter the iron through the apertures in plate a and when heated to escape therefrom through the apertures f in plate 6 on the side of the iron away from the person of the operator. As will be seen, upon reversing the iron to bring the upper and freshly-heated face to a position in which it faces downwardly and can be used in smoothing or pressing the outside air will enter the iron through the aper-. tures in plate 6 and the heated air will escape therefrom through the apertures in plate (0, thus always leaving the iron from its side away from the operator. The iron may be adapted for use by a left-handed operator by reversing the apertures in the two plates (0 6. By the arrangement above detailed it will be seen that I procure a diagonal cross-draft from below upwardly through the iron, thereby conveying a current of practically pure air directly to the burnertube G along its entire length and insuring the complete combustion of the gas. In order to moderate the force of this diagonal cross-current, I have found it ad-,

Vantageous to form a series of small apertures f through the plates a and Z) in preference to providing a continuous or single largersized opening therein, as it is necessary to break or check the draft through the iron to a degree sufficient to retain the products of combustion within the iron so far as may be without interfering with efiicient combustion, and it is also highly desirable to prevent the draft from interfering with an even distribution of the flame from the burner upon the upper inner or heating face of the iron and to prevent the projection of the flame through the said apertures f, out of which theheated air and products of combustion pass, and I find by providing the smaller openings f I can accomplish this desired result. I have also found it desirable-to employ the apertures g in the end wall of the iron, as they have the effect of aiding in the equal distribution of the flame and detaining the products of combustion within the iron, so that their heating power may be more fully utilized.

As will be observed, the interior heatingfaces of the body portion of the iron are pro vided with longitudinal ridges h it, formed on the middle of each of said faces, and that the said heating-faces are inclined from such ridges toward the-sides of the iron, where they are curved until they meet the sides of the plates a b, and that the gas-burner tube G is located midway between the said ridges h h. The flame from the burner is projected upwardly against that one of said ridges which may be above it, and the current of air passing through the iron is so checked and balanced by the provisions for ventilation above described that the flame is divided by the ridge above the burner and covers the entire upper heating-surface of the iron, closely following the curves thereof and distributing a substantially even heat to the entire upper face of'the iron. The burner G at its forward end rests freely within an aperture or hearing in the front wall of the sadiron, and at its opposite end it passes through the lower portion or boss of the handle-arm C. Beyond this it is screw-threaded, as indicated in Fig. 4:, for the attachment of a conical chamber 2', the rear wall of which is provided with a gas-inlet opening is and an outlying series of air-inlet openings Z. The jet-opening it acts as an injector, and when the gas is turned on it draws the air through the airopenings Z and carries the mixture of air and gas forward into the burner-tube G. The gas is supplied from the tube m, separated by a bracket projecting from the handle-arm C. At the lower end of the tube m is arranged a needle-valve n, operated by the thumb-screw 0, whereby the quantity and force of gas admitted to the burner-tube G maybe'n'icely regulated.

The burner-tube G is provided with a seriesof transverse slits for the emission of gas to be burned. These slits are located very close together at the inner end ofthe burner-tube and at relatively greater distances from each other at the middle and farther end of the tube. The purpose of this arrangement of the slits is to give considerable facility for the escape of the commingled gas and air from the tube G, thus forming a strong draft therethrough and preventing the striking back or snapping back of the flame from the burner-tube to the injecting-jet which is liable to be caused by any sudden motion or shock imparted to the iron or to the column of gas and air within the burner-tube G. The

slits although placed very close together are made so narrow that while ample egress from the tube of the gas and air is afforded thereby the slitted structure better performs the same function which would be performed by a closely-woven wire net or gauze and prevents the flame entering the burner-tube.

By varying the intervals between the slits in the burner-tube G, as above described, I vary the proportions of the flame to the width of the sad-iron and am enabled to project the flame with equal force and effect against all parts of the upper heating-face of the iron as well in the broad as in the narrow parts thereof and produce a flame which is continuous from one end of the row of slits in the burner-tube to the other end thereof, but of a size and intensity variable in proportion to the propinquity of the slits.

In constructing such a sad-iron as is herein described it will be found that comparatively slight variations in the spacing of the slits in the burner-tube may produce materially varying results. The size and slitting of the tube should bear a proportion or relation to the size of the injector-jet and the combustionchamber of the iron. For instance, in the iron shown in the accompanying drawings the combustion-chamber or hollow interior of the iron is intended to be five inches in length, with the proportionate dimensions of height and width indicated by the drawings. The iron being pointed at its front end widens in about the degree common to most sad-irons of ordinary form to a point about one-fourth of its length back from the front end, and from that point to the back wall of the iron the side walls are sub stantially parallel to each other. The burnertube shown is about five-sixteenths of an inch in internal diameter and has a wall of about one thirty-second of an inch thick. There are preferably about sixty-two slits cut in this burner. The half of the slitted portion toward the back end of the iron should have the slits formed therein about one thirty-second of an inch apart, and these particular slits should be twenty-five one-thousandths of an inch wide. The rest of the slitted portion of the tube should be divided into two approximately equal lengths, and in the part contiguous to the back half of the slitted portion of the tube the slits should be formed about twenty-three one-thousandths of an inch wide and placed about one-sixteenth of an inch apart, while in the front portion of the slitted part of the tube the slits should be placed about three thirty-seconds of'an inch apart and should be made about twenty one-thousandths of an inch wide. lVith a burner-tube of the size mentioned and slitted, as described, and a combustion-chamber of the size and general form stated and shown I find by experiment that the best results are attained by using an injector-jet having a diameter of forty-two onethousandths of an inch. In irons having a combustion-chamber of greater length more slits should be formed in the tube and placed proportionately farther apart, while the burner-tube itself should be of a proportionately greater diameter and the injector of a proportionately larger internal diameter.

By the combination of the iron-body with its peculiar internal conformation the ventilating-apertures, located substantially as shown, the closely-slitted burner, the air-chamber for commingling the air with the gas, the gas-injector, and the valve whereby the flow of gas may be regulated I obtain a perfect combustion of the gas admitted to the iron, and a regulable intensity of flame which enables the heating of the iron to any degree requisite for the most exacting work to which it can be put, while the person of the operator is protected from the heat escaping from the interior of the iron and offensive and deleterious odors therefrom are obviated.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. A sad-iron having a hollow interior, and a burner-tube for heating said interior, said burner-tube having a number of openings in its wall, said openings being small and closely contiguous to each other and adapted to prevent the flame from striking back when the iron is in use.

2. A sad-iron having a hollow interior and a burner-tube within such interior said burnertube having a series of narrow slits closely contiguous to each other and adapted to prevent the flame striking back when the iron is in use.

3. A sad-iron having a hollow interior, a burner-tube extending within said interior said burner-tube having a series of small and closely-contiguous openings adaptedtoolbviate the striking back of theflame, and achamber connected with said burner-tube and adapted to receive and mix air with the gas admitted to theburner-tube.

4. A reversible sad-iron having two smoothing-faces and hollowed interiorly, and having a burner-tube extending within said interior, said burner-tube having a number of small openings closely contiguous to each other and adapted to prevent the striking back of the flame when the iron is in use, and having ventilating-openings in the opposite side walls of said iron, said openings in one side of the iron being so located relatively to the said openings in the other side of the iron as to lie in a common plane therewith at an angle with the planes of the smoothing-faces of the iron, said openings being adapted to cause a diagonal cross-draft through the interior of the iron when in use, whichever face of the iron is uppermost.

5. A sad-iron having a hollow interior and having a burner-tube extending within said interior said burner-tube having a number of small openings closely contiguous to each other and adapted to prevent the striking back of the flame when the iron is in use, and having ventilating-openings in the opposite side walls of said iron, the said openings on one side thereof being placed higher than the said openings on the other side thereof, and adapted to produce a diagonal cross-draft within the iron when in use.

6. A sad-iron hollowed interiorly and having apertures for the admission of air in the interior of the iron on one side of the iron near the bottom of the heating-chamber, and other apertures on the opposite side of the iron near the upper part of the heating-chamber for the exit of products of combustion; a burner-tube extending within said chamber and having a number of small and closely-contiguous openings therein adapted to obviate the striking back of the flame when in use, an air and gas mixing chamber contiguous to said burnertube, and an injector for projecting gas into said burner-tube, said injector having a needlevalve adapted'to regulate the flow of gas therethrough.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALFRED LIVINGSTON ECCLES.

Witnesses:

GEORGE BUCKMAN, MARGARET T. SmrsoN. 

